Traditional, transitional and new performance management practices in Australian organisations: incidence, coverage and perceived effectiveness

Abstract

The shortcomings of traditional performance management practices (PMS) are widely acknowledged. There is growing interest in ‘New Performance Management’, suggesting a shift from an evaluative to a developmental focus. In Australia, little is known about the current utilisation of both ‘old’ and ‘new’ practices. Using survey data from Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) members we examine the incidence, coverage and perceived effectiveness of ‘traditional’, ‘transitional’ and ‘new’ practices in Australian organisations. Further, since data were gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examine the reported effects of pandemic-related disruptions on practice intensity. Although descriptive results suggest that both workforce size and sector may be associated with practice incidence, regression results indicate that sectoral effects are non-significant, and size matters only in relation to traditional practice use. However, our regression results indicate that COVID-19's impact is significantly related to all three practice categories. Furthermore, overall PMS effectiveness is not rated highly.